Hello from Cairo! I’m now well into my quick detour to Africa, and flew ITA Airways’ Airbus A321neo business class on the 2hr50min flight from Rome (FCO) to Cairo (CAI). Honestly, I’m kind of speechless about this flight, and this might rank in my top five flights ever, in terms of having my expectations exceeded.
ITA Airways’ A321neo business class is unbelievably good, including both the hard and soft product. I don’t think I’ve ever received this level service in business class on a flight this short, even on Gulf carriers or Asian carriers. I actually think I might prefer ITA’s A321neo to the wide body jets in the fleet, including the A330-900neo and A350-900 (both of which I very much enjoy as well).
While I’ll have a full trip report soon, I wanted to share some initial thoughts in this post. If you have the chance, FLY ITA AIRWAYS ON THIS JET IN BUSINESS CLASS. And do it before Lufthansa Group takes over, because this level of product investment runs counter to everything that Lufthansa stands for.
Gosh, I can’t really believe how much I consumed on this flight, but it was worth every last calorie. I’ll be spending the next week on the elliptical, happily working this off, thinking back fondly on my flight.
ITA Airways’ A321neo cabin is stunningly gorgeous
ITA Airways has a fascinating fleet of Airbus A321neos, which are in an ultra premium configuration. These might just be the snazziest narrow body aircraft in commercial service (well, perhaps aside from all-business class operators, like La Compagnie and Beond).
ITA primarily uses these aircraft for flights to the Middle East and Africa, and what a treat they are! Interestingly, they’re not even in the long range version of the aircraft.
First there’s a business class cabin with 12 seats, spread across six rows, in a 1-1 configuration. How nice is it that ITA chose reverse herringbone seats (facing the windows), rather than herringbone seats (facing the aisle), which many airlines are choosing for the A321 family?!
Seriously, look at how spacious these seats are, as the footwells are huge, much bigger than you’ll find in many reverse herringbone seats on wide body aircraft.
It gets even better than that. In the front row, ITA Airways has a business class “plus” product, which I decided to reserve for an extra €99. Obviously the other seats were also very comfortable, but I couldn’t help but give this product a try.
Even beyond the spaciousness, this is such a well designed seat, with enclosed storage, AC, USB-A, and USB-C charging, and more.
There’s of course seat back entertainment, with an extensive selection of movies and TV shows, and there’s even bluetooth audio. While there’s supposed to be a map feature, it wasn’t working on this flight, and I’ve seen similar reports in the past.
There was also Wi-Fi, though it’s on the slow side — perhaps that’s the only weak point of the experience.
Well done, ITA Airways! I think this is my favorite narrow body business class seat yet! And that says nothing of the beautiful premium economy cabin…
ITA Airways’ business class catering is on another level
Perhaps the only thing more amazing than the hard product on this flight was the soft product. Let me remind you that I was taking a 2hr50min flight departing in the afternoon. What was the meal service like? There was a menu and wine list offered upon boarding.
There was sparkling wine available pre-departure, in proper glassware.
After takeoff, a round of drinks was served with almonds, cashews, and dried fruit. I decided to order an aperol spritz, because when in Italy…
Then there was a choice of two appetizers, and I selected the cod, cabbage, and almonds, with Sicilian broccoli florets, purple cauliflower, broccoli, and olives, which was scrumptious. There was an extensive wine list, so I also switched to a sauvignon blanc.
This is Italy, so next up was the pasta course, consisting of tomato maccheroncelli in basil sauce with sweet yellow and red Datterini tomatoes, and San Marzano tomatoes.
I chose the vegetarian mushroom goulash and “canederli,” comprised of sautéed mushrooms cooked with onion, parsley, and garlic, with pan-fried bread dumplings
Next up was a cheese course, with a selection of three cheeses. I complemented that with some Passito (Italian dessert wine), because I figured I had to try everything — I’m all-in, ITA!
Last but not least was dessert, a buckwheat sablé with Verbena-infused panna cotta and berry coulis. I had a cappuccino to accompany this.
CAN I REMIND EVERYONE THAT THIS WAS A 2HR50MIN FLIGHT?!?! Every course was exceptional — I spent about half of the flight eating, and the other half of the flight wondering how this was actually real, on a flight of this length.
For those curious, what seems to be going on here is that ITA has a similar meal service on all of its Africa and Middle East flights, and Cairo just happens to be about half the length of many other routes.
ITA Airways’ amenities exceeded my expectations
It wasn’t just that the food was to the level you’d expect on a long haul flight, but so were the amenities. There was a full set of bedding, including a proper pillow and blanket.
There was also an amenity kit, stocked with all the essentials.
Last but not least, there were some flimsy slippers.
ITA Airways’ flight attendants are so lovely
In my experience, ITA Airways has some of the best flight attendants in Europe, and this flight was no exception. There were two ladies working business class — they were engaging, friendly, and detail oriented. The service was every bit as good as the seats and the food, and that’s saying something. With only seven of the 12 seats taken, service was incredibly attentive, and it felt more like first class than business class.
Flight attendants at ITA clearly seem to take pride in their jobs, and that’s nice to see. Frankly I find ITA to be much better than Alitalia back in the day.
Bottom line
ITA Airways’ A321neo business class is phenomenal, and it was especially a treat on this short 2hr50min flight. This experience didn’t just blow away what you’d get on other European carriers, but this is honestly a better experience than you’ll find on most Gulf and Asian carriers.
This combination of hard and soft product in business class is certainly unrivaled in Europe, and maybe even unrivaled globally. This also reinforces what a high quality airline ITA Airways is. If you ask me, it’s one of Europe’s two best airlines, along with Air France.
If you have the chance, I can’t recommend the ITA A321neo experience enough, especially before Lufthansa Group’s Carsten Spohr gets his hands on the airline, and finds some “synergies.”
Can you believe how good ITA Airways’ A321neo business class is?!?!
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